Western Michigan University has failed to force its student body to get COVID vaccines under its vaccine mandate after a federal judge ruled on Thursday that they cannot require four Christian female athletes to get the jab because it would violate their religious rights.
On the last day for the Christian female athletes to get the COVID vaccine in order to be allowed to participate in school sports, District Judge Paul Maloney granted a temporary restraining order based on his discernment that "WMU's vaccination requirement for student athletes is not justified by a compelling interest and is not narrowly tailored," Newsweek reported. A hearing on the temporary injunction will take place on September 9.
The same judge had denied an earlier motion filed by a Michigan State University employee that challenged the school's vaccine mandate. The Michigan university has not responded to the lawsuit and temporary restraining order.
The Associated Press reported that four Christian athletes who played on the Michigan university's soccer team, Emily Dahl, Hannah Redoute, Bailey Korhorn and Morgan Otteson claimed that they were denied religious exemptions to play without getting the COVID vaccine, resulting in the case.
The Christian female athletes' attorney David Kallman said in a statement that the girls are "grateful" that the Michigan court acknowledged that they have "a strong case for a religious exemption from this vacine requiremend and that they are "thrilled" to continue to be able to play on their soccer team and be with their teammates to compete for WMU "at the highest level in a safe manner."
NTD reported that in a letter, Western Michigan University said that it "has a compelling interest in taking action to avoid the significant risk posed to the intercollegiate athletic programs of a COVID-19 outbreak due to unvaccinated participants, and prohibiting unvaccinated members of the teams from engaging in practices and competition is the only effective manner of accomplishing this compelling interest."
The university required all athletes to get the COVID vaccine before participating in intercollegiate sports. But when the Christian female athletes requested for a religious exemption, it was immediately overridden. But the Michigan court's restraining order now allows the Christian female athletes to remain on the team despite not getting vaccinated against COVID. The judge believes their case has merit as the university's vaccine mandate violates their religious rights.
Following the full approval of the Pfizer COVID vaccine by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, up to 100 colleges across the country have implemented vaccine mandates, NPR reported.
Central Michigan University has decided that students may opt out of their vaccine mandate but must submit themselves for weekly COVID testing. The University of Richmond has set a deadline of September 8 for students and staff to get vaccinated. The University of Louisiana system's nine institutions also require students who have enrolled to get the jab, while the University of Minnesota and Ohio State University announced its vaccine mandate following the full approval of the Pfizer COVID vaccine as well.
